


Part of Your Wold

by bennyfanks



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, The Little Mermaid AU, race is a merman prince, race is enamored with him, spot is a lifeguard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 11:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14134893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bennyfanks/pseuds/bennyfanks
Summary: Racetrack Higgins did not believe in love at first sight. But the first time he saw the human boy, it felt like magic.





	Part of Your Wold

Is love at first sight real?

Racetrack Higgins never believed in any of that “mushy crap,” so he put it. He believed that things just happened in the moment, no fate or divine intervention involved. But staring at the tan-skinned human boy sitting on top of his throne made him rethink everything that he had ever believed in.

The first time he saw the human, it felt like magic. He had separated away from his pod to go explore and came across a small alcove full of rocks. Over the barrier of rocks was a beach full of humans playing, laughing, and relaxing in the sun. But the one thing that caught his eye was a certain one sitting atop a wooden structure that read “lifeguard,” overlooking all the other humans. His freckled chest was bare and he sported red shorts. His hair was damp, supposedly from swimming like the rest of the humans. And his eyes, as Race could make out from that far away, were a warm brown that shined brightly as the sun hit them. In that moment, he felt something in that he had never felt before. His stomach became fluttery and his chest became tight as he stared at this boy, who was dutifully surveilling his subjects. He sighed dreamily, laying across the rock with his chin in his hand and just watched him for hours.

From then on, this became a regular occurrence. Almost every day, Race would remain hidden behind his rock barrier and just observe the spotted boy with the sunshine eyes. He realized after a while that the boy was some sort of protector; he would swim out and help other humans who weren’t strong swimmers, bringing back onto the shore, and sometimes he would kiss them and blow breath into them. He was absolutely fascinated and (honestly?) enamored by the boy.

And he wished so badly that he could be up there with him. With _all_ of them. While he laid there dreamily staring at his favorite human, he often imagined what it would be like to have legs and be able to splash around with the other humans. Once or twice, he imagined the “lifeguard” boy kissing him to give him his breath and he blushed at the thought.

He started to collect human things he found near the beach and brought them back to hide in a little alcove at his home. After all the humans had left for the night, he would swim into the shallow areas to look for abandoned objects. Often he found plastic shovels, something the human children used to dig up sand to build castles with, which he found amusing. He also found various pieces of jewelry, small rectangles made of glass and metal, and devices with glass circles that humans used to cover their eyes. He was fascinated by all the objects in his collection, and he longed to learn about them and what they were used for.

Whenever he returned from his little excursions, his siblings always took notice of the dorky grin and blush on his face and the way he hummed contently. They exchanged glances to each other, not saying anything, but they knew one thing: their brother was in love. With who, no one knew. But they were happy for him, as Race wasn’t typically the one to be outward with his feelings. And to see him so happy was refreshing.

His father, King Joseph, also noticed his sudden change in demeanor and became suspicious of it. His son was never this happy and to see him change so quickly was alarming. He had no clue what was happening. Was he under a spell? Perhaps not; that seemed dramatic. But maybe he was doing something he shouldn’t be, causing him to behave like this. So he did what every concerned parent did (or so he thought)-- send some of his people after him to follow and watch him. He wanted to keep tabs on him in order to keep him safe and would use whatever means necessary to protect his son.

* * *

 

It was cold and cloudy when Race arrived at the beach that day. He leaned against his rock and scanned the area, realizing that there were no humans in sight. He looked over at the lifeguard structure and noticed that a lantern was on, however his boy was nowhere in sight. A huge wave crashed behind him, and he looked toward the sea to notice someone floating above the waves on a large, smooth piece of wood. He ducked down so as to not be seen and looked a little closer to realize that it was _him_. He watched breathlessly as the boy seemed to dance above the waves, gliding effortlessly on the water. That is, until a bigger wave came up behind him.

Race wanted so badly to call out and warn him, but he would have endangered himself. Besides, he was too late. The water engulfed him, pulling him under. For a moment, Race hesitated, waiting to see if he would come back up. The board of wood did… however, the boy was nowhere in sight. Suddenly panicked, he threw himself off the rock and quickly swam towards where he had gone under. It was difficult to see underwater since it was so dark out, but eventually he spotted a pair of pink shorts under the murky water. Race swam towards them and found the human boy unconscious, slowly sinking down to the sea bottom. He grabbed him by the waist and swam up, holding his head above the water as they reached the surface. He swam towards the store, dragging the boy and himself onto the sand.

Once they were safely out of the water, Race laid his head against the boy’s chest and only heard the faintest of beats. _Oh shit, he’s dead, isn’t he!_ Racking his brain for ideas in a panic, he suddenly remembered what he had seen the boy do countless of times to other humans who weren’t conscious. He used one hand to pinch his nose and the other to open his mouth. He exhaled nervously before bringing his mouth to the boy’s and blowing breath into him. He then pulled away and put his hands on his chest, pumping it steadily. He wasn’t sure if he was doing it exactly right, but he hoped that it worked. Afterall, it had worked on all the other humans.

After a few tries, the boy coughed, water spluttering from his mouth. Race hovered over him, face lighting up when he heard him take deep breaths. He began humming softly, hoping that he would get some sort of response to prove that he was okay. The boy opened his warm brown eyes (which Race found even prettier up close), blinking a few times to focus before settling on Race. He stared at him blankly for a second before his eyebrows knit in confusion. “Who the hell are you?” he asked, voice raspy. Race just smiled at him before moving away. The boy sat up slowly and looked around to see that he was gone.

* * *

 

In the following weeks, Race’s visits to the beach became more scarce in fears that the boy would somehow notice and recognize him. But he didn’t stop them altogether. Race had just come back from another trip and he twirled and hummed all the way back to his room, thinking about his human and trying to imagine the things he did when he wasn’t at the beach. What did humans do in their day-to-day? He wondered if their society was similar to his own, or if they were completely different. The unknown intrigued him, and that just made him more desperate to _be_ one of them. Just live among them, even for a day, and see what it’s like to be up there.

He entered his room so absorbed in thought that he had hardly noticed his father there, sitting on a rock with his arms crossed. He jumped a bit upon noticing him, dropping his bag that he had filled with more human trinkets (which included another pair of glasses, as he had learned they were called, and a thickly rolled up piece of paper with a strange smelling herb inside). “Er-- Father!” he exclaimed, taken aback by his sudden appearance. “Whatcha doing in here?”

“Where have you been, boy?” he asked sternly, raising an eyebrow. Race looked at the floor nervously and swallowed. “I just been out with Jack…” he started.

“ _Do not_ lie to me, Anthony.” His voice suddenly became loud and Race flinched. “I know you’ve been up on the surface, and so close to _humans_. Do you know the kind of danger you’re bringing on yourself?”

“I-it was just a one time thing! It’s not a big deal!” he argued, biting his cheek. Joseph laughed coldly and neared closer to Race, causing him to go cold. “There you go again with the lies.” He crossed over to a curtain on the wall and yanked it aside, revealing shelves and shelves of the human objects he’d been collecting for what must have been months.

“Then how do you explain this? _Hmm?_ ” his father asked, staring at his collection for a moment before picking up a prominently displayed photo. A thin strip of photos of his lifeguard boy and two other human boys, which had been blown away from one of the boys’ grips and into the water near Race. Race watched his father’s face as he studied the photo carefully.

“This is him, is it not? The human boy? The one that you made contact with?” Joseph asked. Race’s stomach dropped. He’d been spying on him. “What made you do something so foolish?”

“Well, he was gonna die!” he responded, nervously rubbing the worn beads on his necklace.

“What does it matter to you? He’s just some human,” his father scoffed.

“He’s not just some human!” Race snapped. “I love him!”

Joseph went hauntingly silent, steely blue eyes fixated on him. Race clenched his jaw nervously and met his eyes.

Suddenly, Joseph ripped the photo up, tearing it to shreds. Race’s breath caught in his throat and he just stared on in horror as he raised his triton and used it to destroy every last thing in his collection. “No, stop!” he yelled, rushing towards his father. But he was just shoved aside with a firm hand. The blast came to a stop and the contents of the shelves were left in crumbling heaps.

“You will _not_ go to the surface _ever_ again,” his father said slowly after he finished his rampage. “Do I make myself clear?” Tears pricked at Race’s eyes, which he had trained on the ground. He didn’t respond to his father. He didn’t know how to without blowing up on him.

Without another word, his father left the room. Finally, he collapsed and openly cried. All the memories from the past few months, gone like that. Along with any hope of him seeing his human ever again.

“Poor boy,” came an eerie voice.

“He has a very serious problem,” said another.

Race dried his tears quickly and sat up. “Hello?” he called, voice cracking. He looked around the room, confused, before noticing two eels slithering into sight from a dark corner. “Who- who are you?” he asked nervously. The eels swam ever closer, causing Race to scramble backwards until he hit the wall.

“We represent someone who can help your little… predicament,” one eel hissed as he circled around his head. “Someone who can make all your dreams come true,” hissed the other. Race stared blankly at the wall in front of him, refusing to meet the creatures’ eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?” he laughed dryly.

One of the eels chuckled, settling on his left shoulder. He clenched his jaw as he felt its gaze burn into his cheek. “Snyder. He has great powers, which he might use to help you if you’re lucky enough.” Race scoffed, crossing his arms. “Snyder? The old creepy ‘wizard’ guy? What could he possibly do to help me?”

The second eel approached him and dropped a small piece of paper at his flipper. “This is what you want, isn’t it?” it said in a low voice. Race bent over to grab it, realizing what it was. A small, salvageable piece of the photo of his human. He stared at it at bit his lip, realizing what they meant.

“...Okay. I’ll go,” he whispered.

* * *

 

He popped his head nervously into the dark cave before him. He sucked in a big breath before swimming inside hesitantly. “Hello?” he called, voice echoing off the walls of the cave. He felt a chill as he made his way through the cave towards a green glow that seemed miles away.

“You must be Prince Anthony, are you not?” came a low voice towards the end of the cave. Race cleared his throat softly and peered down a hole he came across. “Uh, yes. And I guess you’re Snyder, huh?” he asked nervously, swimming down into the hole to find a grotto illuminated by a green cauldron. Shelves carved into the walls held various bottles and vials. A haze filled the room and he had to squint to notice him; Snyder, hovering in a corner, fiddling with something. He seemed to notice Race’s arrival, as he turned around with an eerie smile on his face. “Well, welcome, Your Highness. It's an honor,” he greeted, bowing a little.

“Aww, cool it,” Race scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Just call me Race, if you must.”

Snyder just smirked, moving closer to him. “So, _Race_ , I hear there’s something you want from me. I can make your deepest wish come true, with some conditions, so long as you give me something in return.”  Race eyed him suspiciously, backing up a smidge. “Oh yeah, and what are your conditions?” he asked. Snyder moved past him and plucked a bottle off his shelf. “This,” he stressed. “This potion will make you a human for a week. Now, before that week is over, you have to get your human boy to fall in love with you, got it? Then you’ll be able to stay a human and be with him forever.”

He bit his lip, thinking it over for a moment. “And… and if he doesn’t? Fall in love with me, I mean.”

“Then you’ll turn back into a merman, and you will be stuck with me forever.” Snyder gestured to a wall lined with bottles. Race edged closer to get a better look and gasped when he realized what he was looking at. Rows and rows of bottles containing the trapped souls of other merpeople. “That doesn’t seem fun, does it?” Snyder asked, making Race shiver.

“Oh, and there is a little manner of payment,” he continued, circling around the cauldron in the middle of the room to rummage through a bag. With a little cry, he pulled out a conch shell and held it out for Race to see. “In return for helping you, all I ask for is a little collateral. All I need is… your voice.”

“My voice? Are you kiddin’ me?” he guffawed. “You expect me to get a guy to fall in love with me in a _week_ , and now I can’t even talk to him? This is insane.”

“Do you want my help or not, Anthony?” Snyder frowned, edging closer to him. “I’m sure this will be an easy task for a young, handsome fellow such as you. You’ll still have your looks to help you. Now… what do you say?”

 _This is crazy. What do I do? Be stuck down here forever and play it safe, or go up there and risk everything._ Race bowed his head, staring at the floor as if it had the answer he was looking for.

“...Yes,” he uttered softly. “Yes, I’ll do it.”

Snyder grinned; a grin that sent shivers up Race’s spine. He turned to a worktable near him, pulling a rolled piece of paper from a drawer and a quill. He unrolled the paper and handed the quill to Race, pointing towards the bottom. “Just sign right here,” he instructed. “And this will be a done deed. No turning back.”

He quickly scribbled his name at the bottom of the page as he whispered under his breath.

“No turning back.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank u so much for reading!  
> i thought of a merman/lifeguard au way back when and realized "wow i could turn this into the little mermaid" so i did just for u kiddos.  
> as always if you enjoyed, please leave kudos and comments!  
> follow me on tumblr @bennyfanks where i post drabbles and hc posts frequently!  
> (side note: i was @owains but i changed my user bc im chaotic as fuck! welcome to my life!)


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